The Strongest Heart
by zou
Summary: Carly drops her bomb at Sonny & Brenda's wedding and Lulu is left to pick up the pieces.
1. Chapter 1

**THE STRONGEST HEART**

Chapter 1

Lulu stood frozen in place, much like the rest of the wedding guests, Carly's words still echoing off the walls. Dante and Brenda had had child, Sonny's grandchild,. Carly stood triumphantly before her audience, the "proof" of her declaration, a legal document signed by Dante renouncing his parental rights, clutched in her claw-like hand. The smirk on her face and evil glint in her eyes at the havoc she had just unleashed on so many lives turning her once pretty features ugly.

Lulu finally managed to pull herself out of her daze enough to turn her gaze towards Dante. The devastation on his face was absolute. But the fear and regret in his eyes were what held her captive. She stared into his soulful brown eyes and saw his silent plea to her to not believe what Carly had said and something in Lulu snapped. She was angry at Dante on many levels and for many things, but she also knew him better then probably anyone else on the planet, except maybe Olivia. And of all the things that she knew about him she knew that he, the child who had so longed for a father, would never have abandoned one of his own. Even when she still thought he was Dominic Perelli and knew next to nothing about him she knew this. It was a pain that had defined him, and to a certain extent still did. He would not have walked away from his own child, not even for Brenda freakin Barrett. There was a truth yet to be learned here, but with absolute clarity Lulu knew that it was NOT the one that Carly had just dropped like a nuclear bomb.

Without saying a word Lulu walked to Dante where he stood unmoving at the foot of the alter; the closest he had gotten to Carly before her words had turned him to stone and his world collapsed. Only his eyes following her trek towards him let her know that he was aware of his surroundings at all. She stopped mere inches from him. She slowly raised her hand towards his face and she saw him flinch as if expecting the sting of a slap. His eyes widened in confusion when instead she merely caressed his check and leaned forward to place a soft kiss on his lips. If circumstances had been different Lulu might have laughed at the reaction her kiss elicited. Dante's eyes closed and every muscle in his body seemed to relax at the same moment resulting in him almost collapsing into her. Lulu quickly moved her hands to his shoulders to support him as he struggled to regain control of his senses.

"Come on Falconeri. I think we have some talking that is long past due, don't you?" Lulu whispered against his lips as she broke their kiss. Danta simply nodded in agreement.

Lulu turned on her heels and grasping Dante's hand in hers began leading him away from the alter towards the door at the back of the church. She barely spared a look towards Brenda, not caring at the tiny woman was sobbing uncontrollably and that her fantasy world of a perfect life with Sonny had just crashed down around her feet. In her gut Lulu knew that whatever secrets Dante had told and kept it was in an effort to help the perennially "in need of saving" Brenda. She was also sure that Brenda had played upon Dante's youth and infatuation all those years ago; and more recently his loyalty. She hadn't given a second thought to what keeping her secrets would do to Dante, but she'd banked on the fact that if asked he would continue to keep her secrets; and for that Lulu would never forgive her.

But while she was pissed at Brenda it was the blonde standing triumphantly in the middle of the aisle that Lulu directed her wrath. The Valkeryie, that's what Spinelli calls her, a mythical woman who chooses who is to be slain in battle, perhaps a fitting name, especially looking at her now, the shear joy of the destruction she had wrought radiating from every part of her. Then again, maybe Narcissus would have been a better moniker since her selfishness had clearly reached epic proportions. No, Lulu decided, he should have called her Styx after the goddess of the underworld, the personification of hatred. Despite her frequent and loud proclamations that she loved her family and was loyal to family, the truth was that Carly lived and breathed to see other people hurt. She had some pathological need to control other people's lives and see their weaknesses and frailties used against them, but god forbid that anyone every use any of Carly's against her. She was the first to call everyone else a hypocrite and yet seeing her standing there, so content and justified in her actions, completely oblivious to all the lives she had destroyed for her own pleasure, it stuck Lulu that this was a person that she never really knew, and surely one that she never wanted to call "family" again.

Lulu reached the point where Carly blocked her path and stopped inches from her. Rising to her full height, which even with her stiletto heels was several inches shorter than Carly she stared into the bitch's evil face and dared her to say a word. For a moment it appeared that Carly was going to spew some venom towards Lulu and Dante, but before she could start Lulu growled out her own threat. "Get out of my way bitch. You've dropped your bomb and I'm sure you feel righteous and justified. But take a look around because while you may have hit your targets, Brenda and Dante, and me, you've left a lot of collateral damage…namely every person you claim to love. And from where I'm standing not one of them is cheering you on. In fact, I think you better get used to being the town pariah, something I could give you pointers on if I gave a damn about you, which I don't. But I want you to know something. You've failed. Take a look up there, see Brenda in Sonny's arms….not what you were expecting is it. And see me and Dante? We're leaving here together and that's how we're going to stay. Again not what you expected?" Lulu said, giving Dante's hand a squeeze to reassure him. "But tell me Carly, just who are you going home to tonight? And just who is going to be holding you or raising a glass of champagne with you on your victory? Oh, yeah, that's right…NO ONE! You really are an insecure, selfish bitch. Now get out of my way. Oh, and good luck explaining this to your kids and Jason…they sure look thrilled. I wish I could stay around to see how you spin destroying their Father's happiness was justified, and going back on your promise to Jason not to interfere and make his life harder proves what a good friend you are. You're a piece of work. You spout off about how "needy" Brenda is and what a "hypocrite" Dante is, when the neediest and most hypocritical person in this whole damn building is you. I hope you enjoy yourself right now because I'm pretty sure that the life that is going to be most effected by your little stunt here is yours….you're just too selfish and self-centered to see that." Lulu added for good measure knowing that pointing out that Carly had hurt her kids and Jason was the one thing that could really shut her up. Carly stared at her for a few more moments, perhaps debating whether to take Lulu on, but she must have seen something in Lulu's eyes, something that she had not expected, because the smile fell from her face and she silently stepped aside.

Lulu again moved towards the door, pulling a still mute Dante in her wake. She couldn't help but search the crowd for Michael and Morgan and Jason and even Jax. As she found each one she was not surprised to see on their faces shock and hurt and betrayal, especially on Michael and Jason's. She held Michael's gaze for a long moment and the depth of sadness there was staggering, despite a less then auspicious start to their relationship he and Dante really had bonded and turned into brother, and friends. Somehow Michael managed a slight smile for her and mouthed "thank you" as she worked to extract his brother from the carnage his mother had just created.

It felt like it had taken forever to reach the back of the church and their escape, but Lulu knew that only a few minutes had passed since Carly had stood up and meted out her own special brand of justice. Just as she reached for the door handle she heard footsteps quickly approaching. She turned expecting to see Olivia and was surprised when instead it was Spinelli standing beside her. She cocked her head in confusion, wondering at his sudden need to race after her and then she met his eyes and she knew. Her friend, the gentle pot-head geek she had been the first to befriend when he came to town all those years ago had known. No, he had done more then that. The guilt etched in every line of his face told the tale so clearly. He had assisted Carly and he had done so knowing that it would hurt the man she loved and thereby her as well; and he had done it anyways.

"All the words in the world won't explain this away Spinelli. It's best if you say nothing and stay away from me. I cannot believe that you would purposefully and with intent work with her to hurt someone I love. I thought you were better then that. I was wrong." Spinelli made a futile attempt to reach out to her, but then stopped himself and let his had fall limply to his side and turned his eyes away.

Without looking back at the rest of the wedding attendees, although she could hear their murmuring voices beginning to raise as they slowly began to recover from the shock and the reality of what had just happened hit them all, Lulu pulled the heavy wooden door open and quickly exited the warzone; Dante's hand still firmly gripped in hers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Lulu managed to get them to her car, grateful that she had arrived a little late and therefore had not been blocked in by other cars in the tiny, packed parking lot. Dante and Michael had arrived together so she didn't have to worry about Dante's car; Michael would take care of it. Her only concern right now was Dante and getting him away. Now the question was where to go. As she merged into traffic she gave a quick look to her traveling companion sitting mutely next to her. He had yet to say a word and she was beginning to think that he was in some sort of shock, not that she could blame him, the past few weeks he'd taken a lot of emotional hits. In fact, the whole past year, since being shot by Sonny and then learning that he was his father, Dante's life had spiraled more and more out of control, and at the center of it was Sonny and the chaos that seemed to surround him and by extension his family.

Lulu knew she and Dante needed to talk, really talk, and she wanted to make sure that they would not be interrupted, which was never a sure thing at either of their apartments, what with Maxie popping in and Dante and his evil elevator that didn't seem to lock. Keeping her eyes on the road Lulu reached out her hand towards Dante and said "Give me your phone."

He didn't move, or even act like he'd heard her. Lulu was really starting to worry now. "Come on Falconeri, give me your damn phone. Mine's in my coat pocket which I left at the church so give me your phone," she said, raising her voice, but being careful not to sound angry. A moment later she saw in her peripheral vision Dante's hand move and a few seconds later his cell phone was placed gently into her outstretched palm.

Knowing that the number she wanted was likely in his favorites, Lulu turned her eyes from the road only long enough to pull up the list and see that indeed the number she needed was right near the top. Pressing the green send button she then put the phone to her ear and waited. It took only three rings before she heard the distinctive Brooklyn accent that she had come to know so well.

"How the hell are you Dante? Did you decide to bail on being Daddy's best man?" Ronnie Dimestico cheerily teased.

"No, Ronnie, its Lulu. Look, Carly dropped a bit of a bomb at the wedding and I need to take Dante someplace where he and I can talk and be alone and NO ONE will interrupt us or find us. Can you help out?"

"Crap, do I even want to know what that witch did? Probably not, but you can tell me later. Look, why don't you guys head to the city, I have an apartment there I use when I go to see my kids. It's not much but it's clean and no one knows about it. I'll text you the address and tell my landlady to let you in. She's Mrs. Campinelli in apartment 1. Stay as long as you want. Just give me a call that you get there safe."

Lulu couldn't help but be impressed with how quickly Ronnie had come to their rescue and how he totally trusted her to take care of his friend and didn't bombard her with questions. She had known that he and Dante had been lifelong friends, something she had never had, and she now understood that despite their arguments over the past year or so, mostly about Sonny, that in the end they would always have each other's back.

"I'll call you and if you don't mind can you call Olivia and let her know that Dante's with me and we'll be in touch. And Lucky too. Oh, and let them know I don't have my phone so if it's a TRUE emergency they need to call Dante's phone. But if they do someone better damn well be dying because right now we need time for just us."

"You got it beautiful" Ronnie assured her, "oh, and Lulu, I don't have a clue what happened, but knowing what I do of Carly I can guess it wasn't pretty, but if you need anything you call me. I'll protect you two and since this apartment isn't actually in my name, not even Spinelli will be able to figure out where you are. Take care of yourself and my boy."

"I will, and thanks again Ronnie. You've been a great friend to both of us. Oh, can you also go check in on Michael and let him know that we're ok and tell him that it's ok for him to call anytime he wants. I think he may be reeling too and he looked worried about Dante when we left."

"Will do. I'll keep him safe and make sure that none of his mother's crap lands him in any trouble. I'll also let his probation officer know that Dante's out of town and I'll be checking in on Michael. Don't want a repeat of the Ireland fiasco." Ronnie astutely pointed out.

"Crap, I forgot about that. Thanks. I'm sure Dante will call you in a few days." Lulu said and then ended the call before placing the phone in the console between her and Dante. It was only a few minutes later when she heard the phone beep and guessed it was the text from Ronnie with the address of his place in the city.

"So Falconari, I always said that I wanted you to show me the old neighborhood so I guess this will be your chance," Lulu said, hoping to lighten the mood a bit in the car and get Dante to start talking. "I guess we should stop someplace and pick up a few clothes since I don't think either of us want to stay in these clothes any longer than necessary. Nothing fancy, just jeans and a few shirts. Keep your eyes out for a Walmart or Target. Don't tell Kate but I really like getting lost in those stores." Lulu joked. "Pretty sure she'd fire me if she knew that I ever stepped foot in a Walmart, but really, for certain things like socks and bum around clothes they're just fine. I mean really, who needs to spend $20 for a pair of socks when you can get 10 for $2 I ask you." Lulu rambled on, filling the car with inane conversation hoping to get Dante to respond.

"You shop at Walmart?" Lulu heard Dante whisper and couldn't help but let out a laugh. "You're right, if Connie knew her head would explode. Oh, there's one just off exit 174 by the way. I've stopped there a couple of times on my way to the city."

"Exit 174, got it." Lulu said, trying not to show just how relieved she was that he had finally started talking. "So, do you want to start talking now and tell me EVERYTHING, or do you want to wait until we get to Ronnie's" Lulu asked.

"It's a long story and I'd rather wait until I can get it out all at once, preferably with some alcohol at hand" Dante replied, "but I will tell you this. While there was a baby, it was never mine and I never slept with Brenda. I had lots of reasons for not telling you the truth about everything. Lots of really stupid reasons, but I don't want you to think for a minute that I have a kid out there that I never told you about. I've done a lot of stupid things in my life, and I promise to tell them all to you, but having a kid and giving it away was not one of them."

Lulu stole a look towards Dante just long enough to see him staring at her, his heart in his eyes, tears clinging tenaciously to his long lashes. "I know. I'm telling you now that I'm pissed and I'm probably gonna say some harsh, nasty things in the next few days and I'm gonna cry and make you feel horrible for how you've treated me and you will deserve every moment of it, " Lulu said, trying to keep her voice even and keep the tremble of emotions that were now starting to build from overwhelming her. "But I know you Dante Falconeri, I know the little boy in you that still hurts for not having a Dad in his life and I know that if you had a child out there in the world that you would have moved heaven and earth to be part of that child's life. You would have sacrificed everything, just like you had watched your Mom sacrifice for you, and you would not have simply walked away and wished Brenda good luck and gone on with your life. I've watched you with Michael and Morgan and Kristina and even Molly. I've seen you with my nephews and even with kids at the station and you are a natural. You love kids and they respond to you. Someday you'll make a great father and when Carly said that you had just walked away from one of your own I didn't believe it for a moment. You will have a lot of groveling to do and a lot of explaining, but I am willing to listen and my heart is open to forgiving you," Lulu said, reaching out to grasp Dante's hand where it had been drumming nervously on his thigh. For the life of her she didn't know where these words were coming from or the calm conviction that she had that in the end they would be ok and this crucible they were about to walk into would end up making them stronger.

"And before this is done I think that I probably have some things I need to tell you about me; things I haven't been completely honest about. If I learned anything today it was that I love you and will fight for us and that no matter what we need to be honest with each other. We can't justify keeping secrets to "protect" the other person or because we don't want to "hurt" them because it is the keeping of the secret itself that does the most harm and not the actual secret. I don't ever want to give anyone ammunition to use against us again. If we drag every damn skeleton out of our closets ourselves, before we head back to Port Charles, then no one and nothing will ever have the power to hurt us again. Agreed."

Dante turned in his seat until he was facing her and reached out with his free hand to gently caress her cheek. "I'm pretty sure I don't deserve you or your forgiveness, but I'm selfish enough to take both. I promise I'll tell you everything. Every secret I've ever kept, no matter for whom, and I'll trust that you are strong enough to protect yourself if need be. You're smart enough to know that some secrets will need to stay between us, and some are just really embarrassing and you'll probably use them against me for the rest of time. And I promise to listen to every secret you tell me. Every painful memory and event that made you the amazing women you are. I always thought you had the heart of a lioness and today you proved that you have the heart of one too. And when this is over, I promise that I'm gonna ask you to spend the rest of your life with me because you, Lesley Lu Spencer are the only women in the world that I could or would ever bear my soul for and give my heart to. So just be ready."

"That's a lot of promises there Falconer. But if you keep them all, then I think I'll be able to answer that question. It may take some time and don't kid yourself, there's a lot of healing to do. But I saw today what a truly insecure women looks like, and there is no way in hell I'm gonna turn into a shrew like Carly. So the solution is to trust and believe not just in us and you but mostly in myself. I will trust my instincts and I will get in your face if you ever make me doubt those again, you got it." Lulu said forcefully, because she was coming to realize that it was that questioning of herself that she was really mad about.

Lulu realized that she didn't want to be weak and vulnerable and run from the room in tears whenever Dante showed kindness to another woman. She was tired of always reacting is the predictable "Spencer's are doomed at love" fashion that had been drummed into her since childhood. She didn't want all those people who kept telling her "he's just like Sonny" to have any sway on her any longer. She wanted to love with her whole heart like her mother had. But she also wanted to be stronger than her Mother had been. She realized that she was willing to fight for that love, even against her own family if she had to. Something had changed in Lulu today when she saw Dante frozen in the church, reeling from Carly's words. In that moment she had realized that she was not the weakest of the Spencer's but rather the strongest. She was not going to do what they all did when love got confusing or difficult; run away, either physically like Luke and Lucky or emotionally like Laura and Nicholas and Ethan. No, she was fighter, and in Dante Falconeri she had found the love and the man that she was willing for fight for. She would take on them all and if in the end that meant that she stood alone in a church with just this man and no one else, declaring her love and promises of forever, she would be just fine with that.

Lulu didn't know what the next days or weeks or months would hold for them. She was pretty sure that the phrase "emotional rollercoaster" was probably going to be an understatement, but she was willing to take that ride. But for now, their first adventure would be Walmart. She steered the car onto the exit ramp, the blue letters of the SUPERCENTER glowing just ahead, "I told you once to stick with me and I'd show you the world. I guess we're starting with Wally World." Lulu laughed, thinking that when she awoke this morning that this was the last place she would have ever guessed she'd be by day's end.

"Wally world it is. I'll follow you anywhere Lulu, just keep holding my hand….and kicking my butt, and it should be quite the ride, beautiful." Dante replied, a tiny smile breaking his lips. He knew that somewhere miles behind them families and friendships were being destroyed and in disarray, but sitting in this car with this women he simply couldn't bring himself to care. He'd given his pound of flesh and more and now it was his turn to be loyal to the only person that really mattered, Lulu. From now on she came first, before his job, his family, his life. She was the greatest gift he'd ever received and he'd spend the rest of his life appreciating that. And he couldn't help but be happy at the idea of him and Lulu coming out of this stronger and united was going to be the best revenge.


End file.
